Mechanism for detecting irregularities in silk thread.



PATENTED' APR. 123, 1905.

J. B. WHITNEY. v MECHANISM FOR DETECTING IRREGULARITIES IN SILK THREAD.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 26.1904.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

ATTORNEYS.

No'. 787,599. I PATENTBD APR. 18, i905.

J. B. WHITNEY. I

MECHANISM FOR.DETEOTINGIRREGULARITIES IN SILK THREAD. APP-LIOATION P ILED P EB. 26,1904- 3 SHBETSSHEET 2.

PATENTED APR. 18, 1 905.

J. B. WHITNEY. MECHANISM FOR DETECTING IRREGULARITIES IN SILK THREAD.

APPLIOATION FILED FEB. 26.1904.

3 SHEETS-SHEET s.

WITNESSES:

ATTORNEYS UNITED STATES Patented April 18, 1905.

PATENT OFFICE.

JOSEPH B. WHITNEY, OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 787,599, dated April 18, 1905.

Application filed February 26, 1904. Serial No. 195,419. I

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, JOSEPH B. WHITNEY, a citizen of the United States, residing in the borough of Brooklyn, in the county of Kings and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Mechanisms for Detecting Irregularities in Silk Thread; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to characters of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

The purpose of this invention is to provide a reliable mechanism for automaticallydetecting the existence of splits, accumulations of gum, and such other irregularities in silk thread as tend, if .unremoved, to hamper and delay the work of the weaver while the silk is being incorporated into a piece of woven goods and to spoil the appearance of the finished product.

In carrying out my invention I make use of a means for drawing the thread lengthwise, a detector proper; preferably in the form of a slitted part, through which the thread is drawn and which acts to check the advance of the thread when engaged by any abnormal irregularities therein, and a yielding controlling means which is disposed relatively between the t-hread-drawing means and the detector and normally holds the thread deflected out of the straight line which it tends to assume under the action of the drawing means and which controlling means when the thread begins to assume a straight course underthe continued pull of the drawing means after a checking of the advance of the thread occurs moves to disturb the action of the drawing means.

I have fully illustrated my invention in the accompanying drawings, wherein Figure 1 is an end elevation of a machine constituting one adaptation of the same. Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the machine with the top plate removed. Fig. 3 is a transverse sectional view, slightly enlarged, showing in side elevation the various parts. Fig. 4 is a top plan view of one form of the controlling means. Fig. 5 is a front view of the detector. Figs. 6 and 7 are plan and side views, respectively, of the preferred form of thecontrolling means; and Fig. 8 illustrates a detail of what is shown in Figs. 6 and 7.

The frame a illustrated in the drawings is or may be substantially like that of what is commonly known as a redrawing-frame. It carries two series of brackets, the one, 6, for the bobbins c, from which the silk is unwound, and the other, d, for the bobbins 0, onto which the silk is wound. It is also provided with traverse-rails f, which lay the threads evenly on the bobbins c and which may be reciprocated by any suitable means, and with drive-wheels g, carried by shafts h and engageable with the peripheries of whirls 11 on the spindles of the bobbins 6, so as to drive said bobbins. In the above-described mechanism is afforded a suitable means for drawing the thread and one whose action of drawing on the thread can be disturbed or stopped by breaking the contact between any particular bobbin-whirl and the corresponding drive-wheel.

On a suitable rail j of the frame a is secured the checking means shown in Fig. 5. This checking means or detector comprises a block is, to which are secured two thin plates Z set edge to edge and formed with a narrow tapering notch m between them adapted for the reception of the thread. One of these plates may be secured by screws 7L, penetrating transversely-elongated holes in the plate, whereby adjustment of the plates to and from each other is possible, and to facilitate such adjustment a hole 0 is formed in the plates in line with their meeting edges for the reception of a tapered spacing-tool. There are of course as many of these detectors as there are spools or'bobbins to be wound.

From the detectors to the spools or bobbins e the threads (marked 0) extend first over glass bars placed in contact with the upperfaces of the plates Z, so as to prevent the upward displacement of the latter under the action of the threads, then over two sets of rollers r s, mounted, respectively, on the rail and a rail 6, and then over the traverse-rails.

Between the rollers 7* and .9 each thread is engaged by the controlling means. In the adaptations shown this comprises a lever having a fulcruming-support on the main or central rail of the frame a and its free end engaged by the thread between rollers r and s in such manner that by gravity it forms a bend in the thread. Said lever may consist, as shown in Figs. 1 to 4, of a wire loop'u bent into a coil o at one end to receive the fulcruming-pin M, which is mounted in a suitable bracket 00, secured to the central rail y of the machine-frame a. said lever may be bent off at right angles to form a bearing for an antifriction-roller 2, with which the thread can directly contact, or, as shown in Figs. 6, 7, and 8, said lever may consist of a rod or heavy wire 1, soldered or otherwise secured, as at 2, to a plate 3, which is pivotally mounted in a bifurcated bracket 4, secured to the rail The other end portion of the lever is in this instance bent first upwardly substantially at right angles, as at 5, then bent to one side, as at 6, its extremity? being reduced and forming the journal for the antifriction-roller 8, which is set between washers 9, arranged on said reduced portion 7, the pulley and washers being prevented from displacement off of the reduced portion by a head 10, formed at the end of the latter.

On the lever is arranged a slide-weight 11, snugly fitted thereto, whereby adjustment of the action of the lever on the thread may be effected, and 12 is a stop-bar arranged under the several levers and limiting their downward movement. Each lever, it should be remarked, is arranged under the head 13 of the corresponding bobbin 6 which is adjacent the whirl so that it will engage the same upon being raised, and so break the contact between the whirl and the driving-wheel. As a contact-piece for the lever adapted to engage with said head 13, the lever shown in Fig. 4 may carry a plate 14, while in the lever shown in Figs. 6 and 7 the plate 3 may serve the purpose.

The machine being in operation, whenever an undue irregularity in any of the threads meets a detector the advance of the thread is stopped. The bobbin 1;, however, continues to rotate, and in doing so begins to draw straight that portion of the thread which is between the rollers r and This effects the upward movement of the lever, with the consequence that its plate 14 engages the head 13 of the bobbin and lifts the bobbin-whirl out of contact with the driving-wheel. Any further action of the bobbin is at best but a vibratory one, resulting from back pulls on the thread, caused by the lever alternating with the forward drive of the driving-wheel. The drawing action is sufl iciently disturbed so that it is not only noticeable to the attendant that The other end of an irregularity in the thread has been met with, but so that it "will not under ordinary conditions break the thread.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1'. In a mechanism for detecting undue enlargements or other irregularities in thread, the combination of a means for drawing the thread lengthwise comprising two coengaging rotary members on one of which the thread is wound and the other of which is the driving member, and one of which, also, is movable into and out of engagement with the other, a thread-checking means adapted to stop the drawing of the thread upon said checking means being met by an irregularity in the thread, and a controller for the drawingmeans engageable with the thread between the checking means and drawing means and movable against said movable member of the latter to disturb the engagement between said members upon a checking of the thread by the checking means and the consequent drawing of the thread by the drawing means toward the straight-line position, substantially as described.

2. In a mechanism for detecting undue enlargements or other irregularities in thread, the combination of a means for drawing the thread lengthwise comprising two coengaging rotary members on one of which the thread is wound and the other of which is the driving member, and one of which, also, is movable into and out of engagement with the other, a thread-checking means adapted to stop the drawing of the thread upon said checking means being met by an irregularity in the thread, and a pivoted controller for the drawing means engageable with the thread between the checking means and drawing means and movable against said movable member of the latter to disturb the engagement between I said members upon a checking of the thread by the checking means and the consequent drawing of the thread by the drawing means toward the straight-line position, substantially as described.

3. In a mechanism for detecting undue en- JOSEPH B. WHITNEY.

4 February, 1904.

Witnesses:

JOHN W. STEWARD, ROBERT J. POLLIT'I. 

